"Pathetic" roster? You're kidding me right? What are you talking about my dude? Break it down with me:
--Amar'e's one of the best bigs in the league---I expect somewhere in the vicinity of 22-25/9/1.5 as far as production goes. As long as he supplies that he's worth every penny not to mention he was signed with the intention of making us more attractive in the hopes of luring LeBron James. For that reason alone, I liked and agreed with the signing. Again money well spent..It didn't work out as this dude LeBron hitched his wagon to D Wade/Bosh..Nothing we can do about that now but move forward with Amar'e.. Better than Lee, better than Carlos Boozer, agruably better than Chris Bosh..An anchor right in his prime.
--Randolph's only 20-21 years old and ready for the next step--Lee overachieved beyond anyone's expectations here and was great for us but this kid's potential is through the damn roof..Over 6 years younger than Lee with as high a ceiling as any young player in the game. A guy that despite injuries & a weird relationship with Don Nelson has already proved he can excel at this level, albeit with inconsistent playing time..As good as Lee is, this kid was the jewel of that trade as far as I'm concerned. Averaged almost 12/6.5/1.6 in only 22 minutes last year. What does he do with 30-35 mins a game? I'm looking forward to him finally getting that opportunity so we can find out. Should be scary. Favorable contract too, still on his rookie deal. This kid along with Amar'e has the makings of a very powerful 1-2 combination up front..
--Azubukie's a starting 2 in the NBA when healthy. No doubt in my mind. Compares very favorably to Raja Bell..Right in his prime. I'm excited he was included in the deal. If for some reason he doesn't work out though, he comes right off the books.
--Turiaf's one of the better reserve bigs in the game. Favorable contract with this guy as well. Only something like 4M this year, 4.3M next year. Can definitely be moved in a trade if need be. A much better alternative over Jared Jeffries. Kinda reminds me of Adonal Foyle. Remember that guy? 6'10", wide, big body/space eater that could block a shot or 2--only Turiaf's better than Foyle imo, even more skilled, and he's right in his prime. Maybe something closer to Kendrick Perkins and we all know how important that guy is to the Celtics...I actually wanted this guy instead of Lee with that 30th pick a few years back. Obviously I would've been proven wrong as Lee blew up into an all-star but I still like & have a lot of respect for Turiaf.
--Raymond Felton may not be D-Will or CP3 but he's very skilled and right on his prime. Very favorable contract-3 yr deal, only the first 2 guaranteed from what I understand. Most talented PG we've had in NY since Marbury and I can't even remember before that (Derek Harper, Jackson/Rod Strickland??). HUGE upgrade over what we've been working with in recent years. And we got him on our terms--very good signing by Donnie w/o going overboard.
--Drafted a young shooter in Rautins. I didn't love the pick --in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing the Knicks opting to go with one of the better undrafted SL players out there instead-- but he could still wind up being a contributor..JJ Redick, Matt Carroll made it in the NBA which tells me this kid could as well.
--Landry Fields has been a very pleasant surprise. Might wind up being the steal of the draft. Dude's got rotation player written all over him. Solid pick--I give the team a lot of credit, they saw something in this kid that no one else out there did.
--Jerome Jordan obviously needs work and most likely goes immediately to Reno to start his development process but I like that they fact that they we were proactive in trying to address the lack-of-height issue. They spend 1M on a 7' with good upside. Good move. Worth the inventment..
--Timo Mozgov looks like a project. A little more expensive project when compared to Jerome Jordan but like a few of the other components they acquired, his contract is quite favorable so we'll see. Looks like there might be some nice potential here..
Now add to that the 4 capable returning players, Gallinari, Chandler, Toney Douglas & Billy Walker---4 solid contributors, all of which have considerable upside themselves and contracts that aren't terrible. Curry comes off the books at the end of the year and with a little finagling, the thought is that we'll have close to a max salary slot open for next year for Carmelo Anthony, CP3 perhaps or something else... The salary cap is in order moving forward, the players we got all compliment each other very well on paper, there's legit star power with Amar'e, potential all-star players in Randolph, Felton, Gallo and Chandler (esp. when you consider the type of up-tempo game Mike wants to play), quality/interchangable depth and a lot of youth on the roster which is always a good thing and a lot of talent that could very easily be moved in possible trades. Is it LeBron & Bosh or LeBron/Amar'e? Of course not and it's a little disappointing but after the dust settled, what we suddenly do have is a team that was put together very smartly very quick. I don't know about Subzero but to me, the outlook hasn't been this bright around here in a long time. I definitely feel like we're finally back on track here..Sub titled his thread 'the lonterm plan.' Certainly looks like the makings of a very good long-term plan to me. For once I feel like you can use the word 'stability' and the Knicks in the same sentence..
7/16/2010 1:33 PM
